First core: Your Launch Team Is Already Around You
Most people start a clothing brand without understanding product creation, sourcing, marketing, pricing, and brand building. This 100-day course is built to help you understand the path before you start working on it.
This course is created from the real experience of building and scaling Offnorth Fashions into a multi-crore clothing brand over the last 6+ years.
Now, let’s zoom in on the first method – warm outreach, which means reaching out one-to-one to a warm audience (people who already know you or trust you).
Once you complete this section, you’re already 25% done in terms of understanding the marketing foundation for your t-shirt brand. And trust me – this is the easiest and most important method to begin with.
Don’t worry about Google, Meta ads, or any big campaigns right now. We’ll get to those later. Start here. This is your launchpad.
What is Warm Outreach? Let me share a quick story.
I started building Offnorth Fashions back in 2019. Back then, it was actually called “Fullities.” Eventually, it became Offnorth Fashions.
Fast forward to today, and I have over 20,000 customers in my database. Whenever I launch a new product, all I do is send a WhatsApp message or an email to my customers and within a few hours, when I open my Shopify dashboard, I see tens of thousands in sales.
That’s the power of warm outreach.
Now, to be clear, these aren’t random people I bought in a list and added to my CRM. Every one of those 20,000 customers discovered the brand, visited the website, liked the product, and bought it. It took me years to build this from scratch. I didn’t have a step-by-step guide. I had mentors, but no one really spoon-fed me.
But now I’m here to help you, so you can do it faster and with more clarity.
You might be wondering:
“Okay, but I don’t have 20,000 customers. Who do I even send messages to?” Great question.
Let’s start simple – warm outreach doesn’t just mean email. You can reach out one-to-one via:
• SMS
• Voice notes
• Instagram DMs
• Or just call them
Warm outreach = talking to people who already know you, even if they’re not your target audience. They may still support you if you ask. So who should you contact?
Everyone knows someone. Think of your friends, family, ex-colleagues, old clients, classmates, vendors, and anyone who knows you.
Start with 30–50 people you already talk to regularly. Just message them directly – you don’t even need research.
Then, move on to the rest of your contact list. Yes, open your phone, go to your Contacts app – you probably have 300–400 people saved. Many of them haven’t heard from you in years. Reconnect.
Important: Don’t send the same copy-paste message to everyone. Personalise it.
For example:
“Hey! I saw you just had a baby – congratulations! How are things going?” Or,
“Hey! I noticed you started a new job – that’s amazing. How’s it going?”
That 5-minute effort to browse their recent social media updates will make your message 10x more impactful. Don’t mention your brand immediately. Just have a genuine conversation. Catch up.
After 2–3 casual interactions over a few weeks, then say:
“Hey, I’m actually starting a new t-shirt brand. I’d love it if you could check out some of the designs I’ve been working on. It would mean a lot to me if you could share your opinion, and if you like something, feel free to order. Even a small order means the world to me.”
You can also say: “It may be a small amount for you, but for me it shows that you trust me and that will really motivate me to build something bigger.”
Only say this after those few warm, human conversations.
Still feel like 30–50 people isn’t enough?
Go beyond your phone contacts.
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Open your email — check your sent items, see who you’ve written to before.
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Open your Instagram / LinkedIn / Facebook – your followers, subscribers, connections, etc.
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All of them are leads. All of them know you in some way.
You don’t need to complicate things with ads yet.
Warm leads are the best starting point.
These are people who already care.
I know it might sound too simple or even a bit awkward, but if you reach out to 300–400 people, I guarantee you’ll get at least 50–100 orders.
That’s just how it works.
Remember:
1. Don’t sell in the first message. Just reconnect and start a conversation.
2. Don’t copy-paste the same message to everyone. Add a personal touch.
3. Don’t ask them to buy immediately. First, ask for their thoughts or feedback.
4. Only after a few interactions, invite them to check out your products.
You can even use your website to collect feedback. Ask them:
“Which t-shirt design do you like more?”
“Do you think this colour will work?”
“Would you wear this?”
When they feel involved in the journey, they’ll support you. That’s how trust is built. So go ahead, start reaching out. This is your foundation. Trust me, people are ready to help.
Warm outreach is not just a method. It’s your launch team.
Planning to Build Your Own Clothing Brand?
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